Meanwhile, the Pope landed in Ireland, a majority-Catholic country plagued by decades of abuse of all stripes. The Irish Prime Minister gave voice to this long litany: the Church ran laundries where young women were abused by nuns. Church authorities ripped infants from their mothers’ arms. The Pope himself called them crimes.

And to be honest, this news broke me a little. Even after the paralyzing scope of Pennsylvania.

I don’t want it to be true.

I have too much respect for Francis, for the work that he’s been doing to call attention to migrants, to the poor, to environmental stewardship, to ecumenical relations. I was looking forward to a decade or more of his gradual reforms, what that would mean for the Catholic Church and the Church catholic.

To be sure, the new allegations have a thick veneer of Vatican politics. Both America and National Catholic Reporter have run articles explaining some of the reasons to doubt at least portions of the ex-nuncio‘s allegations. The Pope, for his part, is keeping quiet.

At this point, though, the Vatican has to give up its secrecy. It has to provide a full report, overseen by a neutral arbiter, detailing what members of the curia knew and when they knew it.

And if, if, Francis really did know about allegations against McCarrick and did nothing, then yes, he should resign.